led Clinton in scoring as a senior in 1915, rushing for six touchdowns from the fullback position. College career When Slater arrived at Iowa in 1918, eligibility rules had been suspended due to World War I. Therefore, Slater was able to play football as a freshman and earned four letters for the Hawkeye football team from 1918 to 1921. The Hawkeyes compiled a record of 23–6–1 during Slater’s four years in uniform. Iowa finished with a 5–2 record in 1919, losing their two games by a combined five points. As a sophomore, Slater earned unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honors. He was also chosen as a second team All-American in 1919, becoming just the sixth black player ever to earn All-American honors in college football. In Slater’s senior year in 1921, Iowa claimed a share of the 1921 national championship, posting a perfect 7–0 record and never trailing at any point during the season. The 1921 Hawkeyes captured the school’s first Big Ten title in 21 years and won the first outright Big Ten crown in school history. That season, Iowa upset Notre Dame, 10–7, handing them their first defeat in three years. A photo taken during the game by university photographer F. W. Kent showed a helmetless Slater clearing a hole for teammate Gordon Locke by blocking three Notre Dame defenders. Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne later said, “This fellow Slater just about beat my team single-handed in the only contest we lost. Realizing the great strength of Slater and the fact that he knew how to use that strength to intelligent advantage, I had four of my players massed around Slater throughout the game. Occasionally my boys would stop the big tackle, but those times were the exception. Usually, he made such holes in my strong line that fullback Locke would go through for long gains, often standing straight up as he advanced with the ball.” Sportswriter Walter Eckersall said, "Slater is so powerful that one man cannot handle him and opposing elevens have found it necessary to send two men against him every time a play was sent off his side of the line." Fritz Crisler, later a head football coach and athletic director at Michigan, said, "Duke Slater was the best tackle I ever played against. I tried to block him throughout my college career but never once did I impede his progress to the ball